Help kids understand and cope
WAYS TO HELP CHILDREN WITH CANCER AND OTHERS CLOSE TO THEM TO UNDERSTAND AND COPE WITH THE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
Click here for gift and care package ideas including free gifts to help kids and their families cope (link to page with GIFTS AND CARE PACKAGES) .
Powered by TELUS, Upopolis is a free, fun, and secure online community that connects youth 10 to 18 with others like them who are going through medical experiences or life challenges in North America. Upopolis reduces social isolation while educating and empowering youth to play an active role in managing and coping with their diagnosis, condition, or challenge.
In 2020, we expanded Upopolis to include an “island”, a place where youth navigating life challenges can connect. Upopolis Island offers private groups for youth who are navigating grief, siblings of youth who are living with a medical condition and soon youth of parents living with a critical or chronic illness. Youth will have access to peer support, resources, activities shared by our child life team and more.
SUPERKIDS is an educational program that seeks to spread education, awareness, empathy, kindness and understanding. This program is designed to help teachers and parents educate kids and teenagers about brain tumours and how the brain works.
Superhero capes, specialty patches to represent things about the child or challenges they have faced, and more! Kids can also join their patches program, where they receive a mission every month that unlocks their superpowers! Once they have completed it, they receive another patch to add to their cape! The missions come out the first of every month.
Who can receive a Cape?
“All Extraordinary kids are eligible for a nomination. The Squad welcomes kids of all ages, is diagnosis-agnostic, and celebrates the diversity of its members. This includes siblings and other close supporters, who we call Sidekicks. You can nominate them at TinySuperheroes.com/nominate.
https://tinysuperheroes.com/en-ca/pages/faq
Children deserve a fighting chance, even if they’re bald! The cancer battle can be tough not only physically, but emotionally.
In the Hair Fairy Fighters Club, kids with cancer gain confidence and hope as they lose their hair.
Families impacted by childhood cancer: kids with cancer, parents, siblings and other close supporters
- They can be a huge support to the child and family.
- Here is a great app .
A cancer diagnosis is scary for anyone, but for a child it can be even scarier. They’re bombarded with terminology and procedures that are intimidating and unfamiliar. Things like radiation, hair loss, blood transfusions, chemotherapy, and surgery. Just to name a few.
That’s where the Imaginary Friend Society comes in. A cast of characters inspired by the imaginations of kids themselves. Through a series of 20 animated short films, our imaginary friends explain a wide range of complicated cancer topics in a way that kids can understand. Because the more they understand about their treatment, the less scary it will be.
RESOURCES THEY PROVIDE:
- Child can view videos
- Download their free colouring book
- Donate your imaginary friend
- https://www.imaginaryfriendsociety.com/donate-your-imaginary-friend
- To help bolster the spirits of kids with cancer, we’re taking the imaginary friends that you donate and turning them into dolls, motivational posters, coloring books and journals. That way, they’ll always have a friend at hand when they need one. It’s easy. Simply follow the steps below.
- Imaginary Friends can also be donated on our Twitter, Facebook page and Instagram Channel using #ImaginaryFriendSociety
- View imaginary friends gallery. (note that this hasn’t been updated since 2018. We might want to check to make sure they’re still doing this program).
Kemo Shark is the hero of a sixteen-page color “comic book” designed to help children understand the psychological and physiological changes in a parent with cancer who undergoes chemotherapy.